The true first is the UK edition published by Heinemann in 1907. For some reason the price is sky high for this lesser work.
The novel was based on the play in the same name, written in 1899 (Stott 50).
An interesting fact that I got from the seller…
"This Renaissance tale was Somerset Maugham's second novel. It was first published in 1898, when the author was twenty-three, and has been out of print and practically forgotten for years. Shortly after its publication, Maugham made every effort to…
Stott mentions 3 binding variants (with different advertisements at the end of book), of which this is the second, with title in gold letters and the rest in black.
